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Behind the Scenes – Hello

Hello provided some new challenges, particularly in the video. This is the first video to use our Dolly, as well as the new Jib we fabricated. But more on that later.

The choice of Song for this recording was fairly easy. Hello was actually one of the first pieces Nancy played around with when she started learning Cello almost 2 1/2 years ago. We have had a long-standing interest in Evanescence, having previously recorded a Piano cover of ‘My Immortal‘ (Note: This was one of our very early recordings. If you have not seen our more recent videos, please check them out as a better indication of where we are now! :)) After listening to the original, we decided a simple approach would work best, with Piano, Violin and a brief section with Cello. While the Cello did not appear in the video, it is still there in the audio, mostly in the bridge/interlude.

The recording was done in two parts with the Piano and first take of the Violin recorded for a timing track, before shooting the video and completing the recording with Violin touch-ups and Cello. As it is a fairly simple song with which we are familiar, it did not take long to lay down the Piano. However, Nancy had some difficulties with the Violin, a combination of difficult rhythms in places and inaccurate sheet music. We eventually got it more or less right (after 2 hours!), and decided to take a break from audio to work on the video.

Liam behind the Camera

The video was shot in front of our garage. The concrete area in front had been re-edged that morning, resulting in a clean space to shoot in. The whole video was shot in under 1 1/2 hours, as we were racing the sun for light. This resulted in allot of frantic running around, as we used three different sets of gear, each of which had to be moved to make way for the next. We first set up the Dolly, and shot 2 takes with that. During the first take our lamb got away, and ran through the shot, following a very scared younger brother. That resulted in the collapse (from laughter) of our Violinist, and we had to restart the take.

The second set of shots was taken from the tripod, both on the ground, and ‘floating’. This enabled Nathan to pack up the Dolly and set up the Jib. The Jib consisted of a long pole strapped to a Microphone stand, with the Tripod strapped to the end. This resulted in a very rough-and-ready contraption, but it worked for what we needed. I ended up needing to stand on a chair to operate it, which then involved allot of squatting down, standing up, squatting down, standing up… I was over it by the end of shooting!

Anyway, we eventually ran out of light and had to wrap up. We were pretty happy with the video, although we found some problems when it came to cutting the footage together. However, we managed with the number of angles we had taken to cover up most of the problems! This video has the most effects applied to it of any video we have shot to date, as I was looking for a particular look/feel, which I think suited the location – a combination of De-saturation, filmic blur and high contrast.

Overall the experience of recording and videoing Hello turned out to be a big challenge, but after a few delays we are happy with the final result, and hope you are too! Click here to watch the video. As always comments and feedback are very welcome.